MARIETTA, Ohio — Two teams from the Division III Men's Basketball Top 25 rankings will converge on Marietta College to compete in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, which begins at 5 p.m., Friday, March 6.

Marietta College, who is ranked 12th after falling in the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament championship, last hosted the NCAA Tournament in 2011. The Pioneers face Medaille at 8 p.m., while No. 22 Wooster faces Misericordia in the 5 p.m. game.

The winners will face off at 7 p.m., Saturday with the victor advancing to the Sweet 16 at a site to be determined.

Single game NCAA Tournament ticket prices are $6 for adults and $4 for senior citizens (age 62 and older) and students. All ticket purchases are cash-only transactions.

There are still tickets available for both Friday games and they will go on sale at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow at Ban Johnson Arena. The first round will be a split session with the doors opening at 3:30 p.m. for the 5 p.m. first game tipoff. The arena will be cleared following game one and the doors will reopen at approximately 7 p.m. for Marietta/Medaille game.

A total of 62 teams were selected to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Here is a closer look at those first-round matchups in Marietta.

Wooster (22-6) vs. Misericordia (21-6)
5 p.m., Friday, March 6

Despite an upset loss to DePauw in the NCAC Tournament Championship game, Wooster reached its 13th straight NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Scots are facing off against a Misericordia team that has only appeared in the NCAAs twice in school history.

The Cougars are fresh off their second Freedom Conference Tournament championship in four seasons after defeating Delaware Valley 77-66. Misericordia enters the tournament riding a four-game winning streak, including a 57-52 overtime victory over King's. The Cougars also won the regular season championship after going 11-3 in conference action.

Senior Joe Busacca, a 5-10 point guard, is a key part of the Cougars' offensive attack. He leads the team with 15.6 points per game and 2.6 assists. His best game of the season came in the conference title game when he scored 29 points and was named the tournament MVP.

Senior Steve Ware, a 6-4 forward, will also create issues for the Wooster defense. He is averaging 14.7 points and 8.4 rebounds a game. His best outing was 27 points against Delaware Valley back on Feb. 11.

Like most years, Wooster will rely on its athleticism to create match-up issues for its opponent. Senior Evan Pannell, a 6-2 forward, is the Fighting Scots' top threat. He enters the tournament averaging 15.5 points and 6.1 rebounds. He managed 12 points in the NCAC title game, while his best outing was a 30-point game against Wittenberg on Jan. 17.

Sophomore Dan Fanelly, a 6-7 center, is a force in the post. He's averaging 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. His best outing this season came on Dec. 30 when he poured in 28 points against Hope. He was held in check, though, against DePauw as he managed just three points in only 17 minutes of action.

Senior Xavier Brown, a 5-11 guard, is chipping in with 13.3 points and 1.8 assists, while freshman Spencer Williams, a 6-2 guard, and sophomore Alex LaLonde, a 6-6 forward, are Wooster's other starters. Williams is averaging 9.7 points and LaLonde is averaging 6.6 points.

Marietta (25-3) vs. Medaille (19-7)
8 p.m., Friday, March 6

This will be the third meeting between Marietta and Medaille. The Mavericks won the last meeting — 94-83 in Coach Jon VanderWal's first season in 2007-08. The Pioneers won 81-59 a year earlier.

Marietta opened the season 21-0 and reached as high as No. 3 in the nation, but the Pioneers have gone 4-3 since Feb. 11. VanderWal's squad is 14-1 at Ban Johnson Arena, which is easily one of the nation's best home environments.

OAC Player of the Year Garrett Stephenson (West Milton/Milton-Union), who is averaging 12.3 points and 6.7 rebounds, leads the Pioneers. Stephenson, a 6-7 post, had a 14-rebound performance against Muskingum this season.

Marietta's most exciting player, though, is junior RaNeal Ewing (Westerville/Dublin Scioto), a 6-0 wing. Ewing leads Marietta with 13.2 points a game and is one of the best defenders in the OAC. Another threat is junior Eddy Grenert (Wooster/Triway), a 6-5 post. He is averaging 10.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

The Pioneers also have some solid outside threats in junior Luis Garcia (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) (9.9 points), sophomore Keith Richardson (Englewood/Northmont) (9.2 points), senior Andy Dollman (Vienna, W.Va./Parkersburg) (8.3 points) and freshman Dillon Young (Laurelville/Logan Elm) (5.9 points).

Medaille enters Ban Johnson Arena on a three-game winning streak, including an 81-73 victory over Hilbert College in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament championship game. However, the Mavericks are just 8-5 on the road this season.

Senior Jammal Coleman, a 6-1 guard, is closing out a stellar career for the Mavericks, but he's hoping to get some more games to add to his career 1,722 points. This season he is averaging 21.0 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.

Junior Chris Willingham, a 5-9 guard, is a nice compliment to Coleman. Willingham is averaging 12.7 points and 2.7 assists per game. Junior Ryan Grandits, a 6-3 forward, is next on the squad with 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds a game.

Rounding out the starting five is sophomore Jonathan Belton, a 6-0 guard, and senior Cooper Calzonetti, a 6-4 center. Belton is averaging 10.0 points a game and Calzonetti is chipping in with 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds.